Before the Winter Olympics in Torino the New York Times featured Bode Miller as the cover story for their new sports magazine, Play. They led their story as we had in our film, Flying Downhill – a film which we had given them a week or two prior – with the avalanche. Bode at age thirteen is caught in a press of cascading snow and nearly suffocated in the airless mass of tumbling snow and ice at one of the East’s steepest and most extreme skiable faces: Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. Yet Bode emerges, shakes off the snow as his head pops out, climbs out of the compressed snow and skis down to his family; relief, hysteria for all. A typical day for Bode? Clearly, no, but a day nonetheless. Yet in analyzing this opening moment the writer got the myth wrong.
The myth the Times references is Icarus and Deadulus, the flier and father/inventor. Icarus dies by falling to his death after he flies too close to the sun with his dad’s waxen, delicate wings. So this story goes: learn from Icarus, stay away form the sun. Be measured. And we know the results from Torino.
As if following from the lessons of this myth four years ago Bob Costas lectured Bode and America of the virtue of flying right. On the cover of countless magazines? You best deliver, son. And without proper attitude and altitude your sentence is media death. “You don’t care about us, we don’t care about you.” We don’t care = media death.
But the myth was wrong. Bode was never trying to ski into the sun in a singular flash of brilliance. This was in spite of the braggardly magazine covers and provocative Nike commercials of Bode SIPPING TEA (in a commercial! Ahhhhh, the arrogance!!). Yes, he was (and IS) trying to find the very edge between carve and crash, but he is always trying to find that edge and learn from the phenomena that experience affords. This PROCESS is absolutely dynamic and alive. It is the very essence of human existence. It’s what babies and kids do all the time. It’s spinning until you fall down. It’s diving through deep snow to find an amazing way down a steep pitch. It is learning from life. And, in Bode’s case, it’s a profound mental ability to risk failure to find success. The corresponding myth is not Icarus but Orpheus.
In his myth Orpheus must venture to the underworld – land of darkness – to return again with his life’s love and passion, Eurydice. There are a couple hitches (hitches make for good stories). He cannot look at Eury on his return. But he’s human, tempted by a nagging question. Is SHE the one? And he looks. And that leads to next hitch, by looking…
he must do it again and again, every season he must prove his mettle (and earn any medal). Being human means never being done. It ain’t over till its over. And even then, maybe, just maybe, we can try, try again. That’s what the myth of Orpheus is about: an eternal struggle between life force and failure.
Which brings us to Whistler. And yesterday’s GS. In spite of not getting an objective (automatic because of the rules) starting spot in the GS US Ski Team admin gave Bode such a spot (would have been stupid not to). And it gives us a chance to see Bode’s human effort. And, as in Torino, he was giving it his full measure of effort. And maybe trying TOO hard. He was fast at the top, but couldn’t keep the speed inside the gates. He really is trying to get to the bottom of the run with an extraordinary performance. Yes, he’s trying to create the absolute fastest turn and the fastest way down the mountain, but he is also trying to make it through ALL the gates. He’s not trying to fail. And he does care about results – I think sometimes more than he knows or can admit. But he’s willing to sacrifice mediocrity for brilliant failure. The problem is that brilliant failure often looks like mediocrity in a ski race. That is, unless it is part of a frightening crash. If the goal is ONLY to win, and not to perform in an extraordinary way, then anything but winning is mediocrity. Can we look a tad deeper. Can we also look at our own substantial disappointment. In case you missed it, Bode lost the race – skied off in the first run of the GS at Whitsler. Bummer.
That’s another point of Orpheus. He’s not entirely alone in his journey. While he is the only one taking the steps to the underworld there are others along the way. And his journey is connected to another, to Eurydice. And he’s got these judges looking over his shoulder making sure that he doesn’t look at her (and making sure he gets through all the gates). And WE are looking on at every moment wondering how he’ll do. In 2006 Bode’s response to the enormous pressure brought to bear on him was to say “It’s your expectations, not mine.” I was shocked, while not surprised how self-centered he came off in Torino. Because though he couldn’t let “us” in he wasn’t alone. For better and worse. Yet he retreated to a stoic public isolation which led to a storm of sentences of media death. It was a trap. Manufacturers of “The Hades Game” design it that way. Win or die.
But simple truth, Bode did not excel in Torino. He made it out with Eurydice, but they took separate vacations after the games. It was not a happy time. And it was not success. It was simply survival.
Now there’s Orpheus, 2010 style. It was helped by the newest US Ski Team member, coach of the Combined team, Mike Kenney. Let it further be said that Mike is Bode’s uncle and, as we said in our film, “The closest thing to a mentor that an independent thinker like Bode could ever have.” Mike also arrived at Whistler and look at the results: Bode’s gold was joined with Ted Ligety’s 5th and FASTEST slalom time, followed by Will Bradenburg and his 10th place finish and second fastest slalom. Followed by Andrew Weibrecht’s 11th place finish punctuated by his heroic fall over the finish line as he dove through the last gates of the slalom.
You see in our world Eurydice is the ski race. In my case Eurydice is a movie about a ski racer. In his wonderful essay, The Gaze of Orpheus, Maurice Blanchot, talks of how the artist (or inventor or ski racer) needs to unify two opposing forces. One is the inspiration of the moment. The other is the need for completion and result.
In our film Mike Kenney responded to my question of the notion of time and how it is fundamentally connected to ski racing. Time is the objective judge of results. Mike commented on how the Greeks (those fun folks who told us of Orpheus) had two notions of time. One is chronos and it is the ticking of the clock. It is, in Mike’s words, how’s my technique, how are my edges, where’s my body in space. The other sense of time is kairos – time that jumps out of time. “Ah, what a time that was!” It is inspiration, intuition, creation. It is time that transcends the second or minute or hour or day that contains it. Bode’s always been long on inspiration, but technique and a mastery of chronos and the discipline of time has been an ongoing training exercise. “If Bode can master these two notions of time then he could be a great ski racer.” That’s the setup for the race on Saturday.
One of the aspects of the races we’ve seen at Whistler that Todd Brooker commented on is how much more controlled Bode has appeared. Another aspect of these games, and Bode has spoken of this, is how Bode has raced with emotion. He saw himself as emotionally distant in Torino, but now sees he is racing with a motive. Yet with that emotion has come a mastery of technique. And when it happened it was an absolutely beautiful and inspired performance.
And on Saturday at the slalom it begins again. As great as Bode Miller was on Sunday in the Combined it is a new day. And, like it or not, we will be there with him.
Bode has shown his true character already. He showed up in Whistler and he has thrown himself at something worthy and monumental. It is the deep quest to perform in a way that startles, that unifies kairos and chronos, technique and inspiration, preparation and momentary brilliance. His is a great American success story, made poingnant and significant by the struggle that has come before, a connection forged with all of us, his struggle inspiring us in ours.
That journey continues.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
NH Film Festival
Had a great time at the NH Film Festival. I only wish I could have seen more/ been there more. I guess having the Music Hall a block from my office was just too much. Allowed me to duck out of a screening and then finish an edit. Just glad I can't yet edit on my iphone.
One of the fine things about a festival is the community of makers. Great to see Ron Wyman and George Kachadorian and hear them talk about social responsibility and film. It's the ol' cause thing. In their panel discussion I would have liked to add to the notion that came out about conversation that cause oriented work is about relationship. As a filmmaker we need to be embedded in the world we inhabit. Little video cameras have given us the opportunity to bring the camera into those worlds. Like in Food Inc where a small clandestine camera caught horrendous conditions in the food processing world. Like in George and Courtney Bent's documentary Shooting Beauty where small video cameras are mounted to a wheelchair to go along for the ride. Along as we are given a tale of freedom on the dangerous streets of Boston.
Any of us can get an inexpensive camera and record. That's a start. But it's the relationship that camera forms through its human handling. It's the relationship that the camera forms with the community it enters. With the people surrounding it. It's a 3-dimensional world.
One of the fine things about a festival is the community of makers. Great to see Ron Wyman and George Kachadorian and hear them talk about social responsibility and film. It's the ol' cause thing. In their panel discussion I would have liked to add to the notion that came out about conversation that cause oriented work is about relationship. As a filmmaker we need to be embedded in the world we inhabit. Little video cameras have given us the opportunity to bring the camera into those worlds. Like in Food Inc where a small clandestine camera caught horrendous conditions in the food processing world. Like in George and Courtney Bent's documentary Shooting Beauty where small video cameras are mounted to a wheelchair to go along for the ride. Along as we are given a tale of freedom on the dangerous streets of Boston.
Any of us can get an inexpensive camera and record. That's a start. But it's the relationship that camera forms through its human handling. It's the relationship that the camera forms with the community it enters. With the people surrounding it. It's a 3-dimensional world.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Paolo Nutini
I met Paolo Nutini last night. He's a sensation and all the more so in an intimate pre-show living-room performance in an acoustic gig I was privileged to attend thanks to The River 92.5 and the Green Alliance. It's a silly comparison – crossing forms and modes – but he's a Bode Miller of music, albeit happy and seemingly comfortable with other people. He offered our preshow show his songs and his band of performers. They also looked to relish just playing. Altlantic recorded and rumor has it we'll be able to hear the mini-gig on the radio. We could have been in the Buena Vista Social Club, or a southern porch, with the rhythm slapped out by a box upon which the drummer sat.
Great performance is PRESENCE. And Paolo is rooted in his song, wistful, longing and connecting to the presence of all great perfromance. Wish I could have pulled out my Sony webbie and grabbed the moments, flickering candles, and budha statues lit by the flames looking on over Paolo's shoulder. On second thought – glad I could just be there and not have to work. (Wasn't enough light, anyway, so I cut the thought.)
But this sheer genius of voice and instrument isn't simply an invention of the moment. This kid cut his chops in a studio and clearly watched, listened, learned. He knows how to take the stage and share the stage. The blend of personalities is strung together by someone who has seen good and knows how to tap it. That makes him REALLY GOOD. It's where the Bode comparison holds. You don't get to great moments of presence and performance without the chops to transcend those very chops. It's what we all look for – at least speaking for myself – this performance that leaps off the stage, frees us from gravity, and turns our solo acts into connected art.
I pitched Paolo into connecting to the issue of climate change and if it hits him I'm sure he will. We all need that sense of presence, if not simply the presence itself.
Here's a clip that does a decent job of connecting to Paolo. Find him yourself.
Great performance is PRESENCE. And Paolo is rooted in his song, wistful, longing and connecting to the presence of all great perfromance. Wish I could have pulled out my Sony webbie and grabbed the moments, flickering candles, and budha statues lit by the flames looking on over Paolo's shoulder. On second thought – glad I could just be there and not have to work. (Wasn't enough light, anyway, so I cut the thought.)
But this sheer genius of voice and instrument isn't simply an invention of the moment. This kid cut his chops in a studio and clearly watched, listened, learned. He knows how to take the stage and share the stage. The blend of personalities is strung together by someone who has seen good and knows how to tap it. That makes him REALLY GOOD. It's where the Bode comparison holds. You don't get to great moments of presence and performance without the chops to transcend those very chops. It's what we all look for – at least speaking for myself – this performance that leaps off the stage, frees us from gravity, and turns our solo acts into connected art.
I pitched Paolo into connecting to the issue of climate change and if it hits him I'm sure he will. We all need that sense of presence, if not simply the presence itself.
Here's a clip that does a decent job of connecting to Paolo. Find him yourself.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
48 hour film project
Pick the thing up and do it. Wow. It is real.
I saw Celebration at the Music Hall some years ago. And Hoop Dreams. People. Camera. Relationships. Power. "Don't just stand there. Move it!" It's apt.
That was the line of dialog we were given. And Max Otterbein, waiter. And sunglasses and a genre: buddy film. And 48 hours to make – script, shoot, edit!! – a film.
Never had much pull for a 48 Hour Project till this year. And meeting Sean Hurley. We talked about collaborating. And then this thing in New Hampshire. Pick a camera up in our back yard. See what happens. Portsmouth has been much ignored filmically (not any more!)
Put down the money to enter.
Crazy week leading up to the Friday with two other films to be shown Thursday night. Hoo boy, didn't even read the rules till Friday and then a quick scan. Hope the guy at the table next to me wasn't lying about the 7 minute max thing.
Sean would bring Rick. I would bring Jay with a second (and preferred XDCam) camera.
Then went to the Fresh Local Truck (convenient camera platform for our opening shot) for lunch Thursday and met Doria. She's a sensation – an instant connection. She's dong a documentary on refugees from Bhutan. "Wanna help make a film this weekend?"
"Going to a wedding on Friday in NY, but I can get back if afternoon's not too late?" Get out! Jump in. What can she do/ want to do? "I can act if you'd like. Except I'm in the Union." Not a problem for me! 'Cept that I HATE paperwork.
So we all jumped in. Played. And believed that we wouldn't waste our time. We got the category we wanted (not that we knew any better). A buddy film. Sit and jabber. Let 'em roll. See what happens.
But we did so much more than just let em roll and get what we get. We started there. Doria said it. And she echoed a line in our climate change documentary project. "You begin where you are, man." We cut the specific line (remember that 7:00 thing??), but the thought permeated.
And Sean... alive from the first moment. He and Rick started improvising at Gill's Indian restaurant next to the Double D Comics (no other filmmakers were hungry?) right after we got our assignment. They started playing with elements.
Sean was alive and awake at – was it 5 or 6 AM as we began to plan the shoot, Rick was in by 6AM (doing the morning show on NHPR gets him going pretty early most days).
And the same on Sunday. Sean and I were up with the sun, cutting away. Could have used those 4 hours of sleep for a sound mix at about 6:41 PM Sunday. But jumped in the car and flew to Manchester Karmic radar detector set for every corner.
Thanks Chris and 48 hour Project folks. You kicked some life into these old guys. Well, Sean & Rick aren't so old.
Somewhat cross posted on our blog
coruway.blogspot.com
these old guys. Well, Sean & Rick aren't so old.
The above photo is why we wanted to use Jay's XDCAm:
Still pretty much as the camera recorded it, lit by two street lights, 7:56 PM (or thereabouts)
I saw Celebration at the Music Hall some years ago. And Hoop Dreams. People. Camera. Relationships. Power. "Don't just stand there. Move it!" It's apt.
That was the line of dialog we were given. And Max Otterbein, waiter. And sunglasses and a genre: buddy film. And 48 hours to make – script, shoot, edit!! – a film.
Never had much pull for a 48 Hour Project till this year. And meeting Sean Hurley. We talked about collaborating. And then this thing in New Hampshire. Pick a camera up in our back yard. See what happens. Portsmouth has been much ignored filmically (not any more!)
Put down the money to enter.
Crazy week leading up to the Friday with two other films to be shown Thursday night. Hoo boy, didn't even read the rules till Friday and then a quick scan. Hope the guy at the table next to me wasn't lying about the 7 minute max thing.
Sean would bring Rick. I would bring Jay with a second (and preferred XDCam) camera.
Then went to the Fresh Local Truck (convenient camera platform for our opening shot) for lunch Thursday and met Doria. She's a sensation – an instant connection. She's dong a documentary on refugees from Bhutan. "Wanna help make a film this weekend?"
"Going to a wedding on Friday in NY, but I can get back if afternoon's not too late?" Get out! Jump in. What can she do/ want to do? "I can act if you'd like. Except I'm in the Union." Not a problem for me! 'Cept that I HATE paperwork.
So we all jumped in. Played. And believed that we wouldn't waste our time. We got the category we wanted (not that we knew any better). A buddy film. Sit and jabber. Let 'em roll. See what happens.
But we did so much more than just let em roll and get what we get. We started there. Doria said it. And she echoed a line in our climate change documentary project. "You begin where you are, man." We cut the specific line (remember that 7:00 thing??), but the thought permeated.
And Sean... alive from the first moment. He and Rick started improvising at Gill's Indian restaurant next to the Double D Comics (no other filmmakers were hungry?) right after we got our assignment. They started playing with elements.
Sean was alive and awake at – was it 5 or 6 AM as we began to plan the shoot, Rick was in by 6AM (doing the morning show on NHPR gets him going pretty early most days).
And the same on Sunday. Sean and I were up with the sun, cutting away. Could have used those 4 hours of sleep for a sound mix at about 6:41 PM Sunday. But jumped in the car and flew to Manchester Karmic radar detector set for every corner.
Thanks Chris and 48 hour Project folks. You kicked some life into these old guys. Well, Sean & Rick aren't so old.
Somewhat cross posted on our blog
coruway.blogspot.com
these old guys. Well, Sean & Rick aren't so old.
The above photo is why we wanted to use Jay's XDCAm:
Still pretty much as the camera recorded it, lit by two street lights, 7:56 PM (or thereabouts)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Uncle Joe Awards
The winners of last night's Joe Rogers Award for Independence were given at a packed hall in Boston. In this profile we learn the steps Michael Greene and Dennis Machado have taken to get where they want to go.
What a night! What a week! What a life!
As I get ready for the 48-hour film project beginning today I’m just getting over a previous 48-hour film project.
Last night was Awards Night – the Annual Celebration & Fundraiser for Work, Inc. a non-profit service provider in Massachusetts that supports people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. One of the evening’s awards is the Joe Rogers award for independence in honor of my uncle and dedicated to his determined spirit. The award is presented by Joe’s family and my dad, Mark Rogers, performed the honor of presenting the awards to Michael Greene and Dennis Machado. As part of the celebration we have, each year, created video profiles of all the nominees and winners.
We had another profile this year: the 2009 Work Inc. Consumer of the Year. Maura Sullivan is inspiring in her quest to connect with others and her leadership in helping others with disability to similarly connect. There is still a bit of last night’s dinner on this monitor – don’t want to admit working till the last minute, but it does seem forensics might ID remnants of the roast beef served up. We were glad to provide this profile of Maura Sullivan – done with time to enjoy desert.
Thanks to Jim Casetta, CEO of Work Inc. and Jim Cawley, development director, and President of the Boston City Council, Maureen Feeney, who was nothing short of inspiring in her position of MC for the evening event. And to Joe Rogers for leading the way; David & Terry Rogers, Mark & Susan Rogers, Barbara Rogers and in memory of Leonard Rogers.
cross posted on Bald Guy on Climate Change and My Uncle Joe.org
As I get ready for the 48-hour film project beginning today I’m just getting over a previous 48-hour film project.
Last night was Awards Night – the Annual Celebration & Fundraiser for Work, Inc. a non-profit service provider in Massachusetts that supports people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. One of the evening’s awards is the Joe Rogers award for independence in honor of my uncle and dedicated to his determined spirit. The award is presented by Joe’s family and my dad, Mark Rogers, performed the honor of presenting the awards to Michael Greene and Dennis Machado. As part of the celebration we have, each year, created video profiles of all the nominees and winners.
We had another profile this year: the 2009 Work Inc. Consumer of the Year. Maura Sullivan is inspiring in her quest to connect with others and her leadership in helping others with disability to similarly connect. There is still a bit of last night’s dinner on this monitor – don’t want to admit working till the last minute, but it does seem forensics might ID remnants of the roast beef served up. We were glad to provide this profile of Maura Sullivan – done with time to enjoy desert.
Thanks to Jim Casetta, CEO of Work Inc. and Jim Cawley, development director, and President of the Boston City Council, Maureen Feeney, who was nothing short of inspiring in her position of MC for the evening event. And to Joe Rogers for leading the way; David & Terry Rogers, Mark & Susan Rogers, Barbara Rogers and in memory of Leonard Rogers.
cross posted on Bald Guy on Climate Change and My Uncle Joe.org
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